Shelters Southern California

Thousands of homeless people across the state who seek shelter on cold winter nights at National Guard armories may be on the streets this winter. Gov. Pete Wilson on Monday vetoed the request for $1 million that would have kept the 10-year-old program alive for another year. And advocates for the homeless said the decision could not have come at a worse time.

Thousands of homeless people across the state who seek shelter on cold winter nights at National Guard armories may be on the streets this winter. Gov. Pete Wilson on Monday vetoed the request for $1 million that would have kept the 10-year-old program alive for another year. And advocates for the homeless said the decision could not have come at a worse time.

The City Council has approved installation of 20 bus shelters at Southern California Rapid Transit District stops along Hawthorne Boulevard. The shelters will cost $124,440 and will be paid for out of the city's share of Proposition A county transit taxes. Target Media will install and maintain the shelters and will pay Lawndale an estimated $43,200 a year in advertising profits. The city is also planning to operate a free shuttle bus system utilizing transit funds.

Humane Animal Rescue Team has provided a no-kill sanctuary in Ventura County for senior, disabled and abused dogs since 1984. We also publish Muttmatchers Messenger, a bimonthly photo ad newspaper uniting grass-roots no-kill rescuers and shelters in Southern California in a vehicle to advertise their animals for placement. Richard Avanzino has been a guest editorial writer for us for several years. He was our annual luncheon speaker last year. We applaud Rich as a champion of challenging all of us to work harder, do more and stop the killing.

More than 1,000 students at Foshay Learning Center pledged to live drug-free lives. The pledge was made during a special assembly Tuesday as part of the third annual Drug-Free Southern California Week. The kindergarten through 12th-grade students watched a skit performed by some of the high school students and listened to a choir. Raquel Garcia, a seventh-grader, won the anti-drug poster contest with her illustration "Think About It."

Here are some facts and figures on Monday's magnitude 6.6 earthquake: * DEATHS: 51 * AFTERSHOCKS: A magnitude 3.6 aftershock was the hardest to hit the Southland Thursday. * DAMAGE: Earthquake damage costs could range from $15 billion to $30 billion, Gov. Pete Wilson estimated, making it the most expensive natural disaster in California history. Losses suffered in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake in the San Francisco Bay Area totaled about $7 billion.

Entrepreneur Jean Claude LeRoyer, accused of bilking up to $43 million from mostly elderly investors in a city bus shelter-advertising scheme, pleaded guilty Wednesday to six charges of mail fraud and filing false income tax returns. His wife, Karen, a former bookkeeper for the Tustin company that LeRoyer headed, pleaded guilty to three counts of filing false tax reports. LeRoyer built his Metro Display Advertising Inc.

The hulking structure that looms over 5th Street already has been nicknamed "Megamission" on Skid Row. The size of the new Los Angeles Mission, which opened its doors to the homeless Tuesday, seemed to surprise everyone. "I wanted to see this," said 48-year-old Paula Dixon, the first homeless person to come through the gate, as she ran her eyes across the stark outer walls of the 156,000-square-foot building at 5th and Wall streets.

One year ago today, at 7:42 in the morning, Southern Californians were reminded with a jolt that they could no longer deny the need to prepare for earthquakes. Eight people died and $368 million in damages occurred in the quake centered in Whittier. Some people got the dramatic message, and so preparedness efforts already under way made further progress. But not enough people acted. California is not yet as prepared for disaster as it should be.

October 12, 1989 | CHARLES WOO, Charles Woo is chairman of the Central City East Assn. and

A shocking process is under way to move hundreds of homeless men who seek shelter from the elements each night in downtown Los Angeles. The city's Community Redevelopment Agency is enticing the Union Rescue Mission with millions of taxpayer dollars to encourage it to find a new home. Why does the CRA want to give the Rescue Mission $6.5 million to buy a new home and then millions more in payment for its Main Street facility, where it has served the homeless for more than 70 years? It's simple.

The largest bus stop shelter company in Southern California has filed for bankruptcy reorganization, suspending payments to scores of investors who bought shelters from the company in a lease-back arrangement, its lawyer said Thursday. Metro Display Advertising Inc. of Tustin, also known as Bustop Shelters of California, will continue to operate while in Chapter 11 proceedings, according to the lawyer. The bankruptcy filing in U.S.